Method for policy converging, ue, and server

ABSTRACT

A method for policy converging, a UE, and a server are provided. The method includes: sending, by a UE, a policy request message to a first policy server; receiving a policy response message from the first policy server, where the policy response message includes first policy information of the first policy server and information about at least one piece of second policy information; acquiring the at least one piece of second policy information according to the information about the at least one piece of second policy information; and converging, according to the policy response message, the first policy information and the at least one piece of second policy information to generate converged policy information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2013/073406 filed on Mar. 29, 2013, which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a method for policy converging, userequipment (UE), and a server.

BACKGROUND

At present, the up-to-date 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)core network not only supports 3GPP access technologies, for example, aMobile Telecommunications System (Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem, UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) and a GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) Edge Radio Access Network(GERAN), but also supports non-3GPP access technologies, for example,Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)2000, Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), and a wireless local area network (WLAN). Anaccess network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) server may bedeployed on a network side, and for a UE supporting multiple accesstechnologies, the network side may send policy information to the UE byusing the ANDSF server, so as to instruct the UE to select a suitableaccess network. With the development of a WLAN technology, a WLANnetwork gradually becomes a supplement to a 3GPP network; especially ina WLAN hotspot area, the WLAN network may offload some data streams soas to relieve load on a 3GPP backbone network.

For a 3GPP network, when a UE interacts with an ANDSF server by usingthe Internet Protocol (IP) after connecting to a network side, the ANDSFserver is responsible for providing the UE with at least one type ofpolicy information in access network discovery information, aninter-system handover policy, and an inter-system routing policy, andthe UE decides, based on the policy information, a target network towhich the UE is handed over. For a WLAN network, the WLAN networkprovides WLAN network state information and WLAN selection policyinformation by using a wireless fidelity (WiFi) alliance (WFA) server toa UE that accesses the WLAN network. As can be seen from that, when the3GPP network and the WLAN network coexist, the ANDSF server and the WFAserver may provide policy information to a UE at the same time, therebyleading to policy conflict; as a result, it may be caused that it isdifficult for the UE to select a suitable policy to access a network.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for policyconverging, a UE, and a server, so as to solve a problem in the priorart that different servers on a network side provide policy informationto a UE at the same time, thereby leading to policy conflict and makingit difficult for the UE to access a network.

In order to solve the foregoing technical problem, the followingtechnical solutions are disclosed in the embodiments of the presentinvention:

A first aspect provides a method for policy converging, where the methodincludes:

-   -   sending, by user equipment UE, a policy request message to a        first policy server;    -   receiving, by the UE, a policy response message from the first        policy server, where the policy response message includes first        policy information of the first policy server and information        about at least one piece of second policy information, and the        at least one piece of second policy information is policy        information of at least one second policy server;    -   acquiring, by the UE, the at least one piece of second policy        information according to the information about the at least one        piece of second policy information; and    -   converging, by the UE according to the policy response message,        the first policy information and the at least one piece of        second policy information to generate converged policy        information.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, the information about the at least one pieceof second policy information is used as a policy convergence indication.

With reference to the first aspect, in a second possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, the policy response message further includesa policy convergence indication.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, or the second possible implementation manner of first aspect, ina third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the policyconvergence indication is used for indicating any one of the followingconverging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy infon iation;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, or the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect,in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, thepolicy convergence indication is a policy convergence indicationdetermined by the first policy server according to at least onerelationship in a configuration relationship, a location relationship,and a roaming relationship between the first policy server and the atleast one second policy server.

With reference to the first aspect, or the first possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, or the second possible implementation mannerof the first aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, or the fourth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,

-   -   the policy request message includes an identifier of at least        one second policy server found by the UE, so that the first        policy server selects the at least one second policy server for        the UE; or    -   the policy request message includes an identifier of at least        one piece of second policy information of at least one second        policy server found by the UE, so that the first policy server        selects the identifier of the at least one piece of second        policy information for the UE.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when the policy request message includes the identifier of the at leastone second policy server found by the UE, the information that is aboutthe at least one piece of second policy information and included in thepolicy response message includes the identifier of the at least onesecond policy server; and

-   -   when the policy request message includes the identifier of the        at least one piece of second policy information of the at least        one second policy server found by the UE, the information that        is about the at least one piece of second policy information and        included in the policy response message includes the identifier        of the at least one piece of second policy information.

With reference to the first aspect, or the first possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, or the second possible implementation mannerof the first aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, or the fourth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, or the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,or the sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in aseventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect,

-   -   the policy request message includes capability information of        the UE, where the capability information is used for indicating        that the UE supports policy convergence, or used for indicating        a converging manner supported by the UE, so that the first        policy server selects, for the UE according to the converging        manner supported by the UE, a converging manner used for        generating the converged policy information.

A second aspect provides a method for policy converging, where themethod includes:

-   -   receiving, by a first policy server, a policy request message        sent by user equipment UE; and    -   sending, by the first policy server, a policy response message        to the UE, where the policy response message includes first        policy information of the first policy server and information        about at least one piece of second policy information, the at        least one piece of second policy information is policy        information of at least one second policy server, and the policy        response message is used for instructing the UE to acquire the        at least one piece of second policy information according to the        information about the at least one piece of second policy        information, and converge the first policy information and the        at least one piece of second policy information to generate        converged policy information.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, the information about the at least onepiece of second policy information is used as a policy convergenceindication.

With reference to the second aspect, in a second possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, the policy response message furtherincludes a policy convergence indication.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, or the second possible implementation manner of second aspect,in a third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, thepolicy convergence indication is used for indicating any one of thefollowing converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, or the third possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the second aspect,before the sending, by the first policy server, a policy responsemessage to the UE, the method further includes:

-   -   determining, by the first policy server, the policy convergence        indication according to at least one relationship in a        configuration relationship, a location relationship, and a        roaming relationship between the first policy server and the at        least one second policy server.

With reference to the second aspect, or the first possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, or the second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, or the third possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, or the fourth possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect,

-   -   the method further includes:    -   when the policy request message includes an identifier of at        least one second policy server found by the UE, selecting, by        the first policy server, the at least one second policy server        for the UE; or    -   when the policy request message includes an identifier of at        least one piece of second policy information of at least one        second policy server found by the UE, selecting, by the first        policy server, the identifier of the at least one piece of        second policy information for the UE.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the second aspect,when the policy request message includes the identifier of the at leastone second policy server found by the UE, the information that is aboutthe at least one piece of second policy information and included in thepolicy response message includes the identifier of the at least onesecond policy server; and

-   -   when the policy request message includes the identifier of the        at least one piece of second policy information of the at least        one second policy server found by the UE, the information that        is about the at least one piece of second policy information and        included in the policy response message includes the identifier        of the at least one piece of second policy information.

With reference to the second aspect, or the first possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, or the second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, or the third possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, or the fourth possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, or the fifth possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, or the sixth possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect,

-   -   the policy request message includes capability information of        the UE, where the capability information is used for indicating        that the UE supports policy convergence, or used for indicating        a converging manner supported by the UE; and    -   the method further includes: selecting, by the first policy        server for the UE according to the converging manner supported        by the UE, a converging manner used for generating the converged        policy information.

A third aspect provides a UE, where the UE includes:

-   -   a sending unit, configured to send a policy request message to a        first policy server;    -   a receiving unit, configured to receive a policy response        message from the first policy server, where the policy response        message includes first policy information of the first policy        server and information about at least one piece of second policy        information, and the at least one piece of second policy        information is policy information of at least one second policy        server;    -   an acquiring unit, configured to acquire the at least one piece        of second policy information according to the information about        the at least one piece of second policy information; and    -   a converging unit, configured to converge, according to the        policy response message, the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information to generate        converged policy information.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the third aspect,

-   -   the information that is about the at least one piece of second        policy information and included in the policy response message        received by the receiving unit is used as a policy convergence        indication; or    -   the policy response message received by the receiving unit        further includes a policy convergence indication.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect,the policy convergence indication is used for indicating any one of thefollowing converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy infoi        illation.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect,the policy convergence indication is a policy convergence indicationdetermined by the first policy server according to at least onerelationship in a configuration relationship, a location relationship,and a roaming relationship between the first policy server and the atleast one second policy server.

With reference to the third aspect, or the first possible implementationmanner of the third aspect, or the second possible implementation mannerof the third aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of thethird aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect,

-   -   the policy request message sent by the sending unit includes an        identifier of at least one second policy server found by the UE,        so that the first policy server selects the at least one second        policy server for the UE; or    -   the policy request message sent by the sending unit includes an        identifier of at least one piece of second policy information of        at least one second policy server found by the UE, so that the        first policy server selects the identifier of the at least one        piece of second policy information for the UE.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the third aspect,

-   -   when the policy request message sent by the sending unit        includes the identifier of the at least one second policy server        found by the UE, the information that is about the at least one        piece of second policy information and included in the policy        response message received by the receiving unit includes the        identifier of the at least one second policy server; and    -   when the policy request message sent by the sending unit        includes the identifier of the at least one piece of second        policy information of the at least one second policy server        found by the UE, the information that is about the at least one        piece of second policy information and included in the policy        response message received by the receiving unit includes the        identifier of the at least one piece of second policy        information.

With reference to the third aspect, or the first possible implementationmanner of the third aspect, or the second possible implementation mannerof the third aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of thethird aspect, or the fourth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, or the fifth possible implementation manner of the third aspect,in a sixth possible implementation manner of the third aspect,

-   -   the policy request message sent by the sending unit includes        capability information of the UE, where the capability        information is used for indicating that the UE supports policy        convergence, or used for indicating a converging manner        supported by the UE, so that the first policy server selects,        for the UE according to the converging manner supported by the        UE, a converging manner used for generating the converged policy        information.

A fourth aspect provides a UE, where the UE includes: a bus, and anetwork interface and a processor that are connected by using the bus,where

-   -   the network interface is configured to connect to a policy        server in a network; and    -   the processor is configured to send a policy request message to        a first policy server through the network interface; receive,        through the network interface, a policy response message from        the first policy server, where the policy response message        includes first policy information of the first policy server and        information about at least one piece of second policy        information, and the at least one piece of second policy        information is policy information of at least one second policy        server; acquire the at least one piece of second policy        information according to the information about the at least one        piece of second policy information; and converge, according to        the policy response message, the first policy information and        the at least one piece of second policy information to generate        converged policy information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the fourth aspect,

-   -   the information that is about the at least one piece of second        policy information and included in the policy response message        received by the processor through the network interface is used        as a policy convergence indication; or    -   the policy response message received by the processor through        the network interface further includes a policy convergence        indication.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect,the policy convergence indication is used for indicating any one of thefollowing converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect,the policy convergence indication is a policy convergence indicationdetermined by the first policy server according to at least onerelationship in a configuration relationship, a location relationship,and a roaming relationship between the first policy server and the atleast one second policy server.

With reference to the fourth aspect, or the first possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, or the second possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, or the third possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect,

-   -   the policy request message sent by the processor through the        network interface includes an identifier of at least one second        policy server found by the UE, so that the first policy server        selects the at least one second policy server for the UE; or    -   the policy request message sent by the processor through the        network interface includes an identifier of at least one piece        of second policy information of at least one second policy        server found by the UE, so that the first policy server selects        the identifier of the at least one piece of second policy        information for the UE.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of thefourth aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect,

-   -   when the policy request message sent by the processor through        the network interface includes the identifier of the at least        one second policy server found by the UE, the information that        is about the at least one piece of second policy information and        included in the policy response message received by the        processor through the network interface includes an identifier        of the at least one second policy server; and    -   when the policy request message sent by the processor through        the network interface includes the identifier of the at least        one piece of second policy information of the at least one        second policy server found by the UE, the information that is        about the at least one piece of second policy information and        included in the policy response message received by the        processor through the network interface includes the identifier        of the at least one piece of second policy information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, or the first possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, or the second possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, or the third possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, or the fourth possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, or the fifth possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a sixth possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect,

-   -   the policy request message sent by the processor through the        network interface includes capability information of the UE,        where the capability information is used for indicating that the        UE supports policy convergence, or used for indicating a        converging manner supported by the UE, so that the first policy        server selects, for the UE according to the converging manner        supported by the UE, a converging manner used for generating the        converged policy information.

A fifth aspect provides a server, where the server serves as a firstpolicy server, and includes:

-   -   a receiving unit, configured to receive a policy request message        sent by user equipment UE; and    -   a sending unit, configured to send a policy response message to        the UE, where the policy response message includes first policy        information of the first policy server and information about at        least one piece of second policy information, the at least one        piece of second policy information is policy information of at        least one second policy server, and the policy response message        is used for instructing the UE to acquire the at least one piece        of second policy information according to the information about        the at least one piece of second policy information, and        converge the first policy information and the at least one piece        of second policy information to generate converged policy        information.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the fifth aspect,

-   -   the information that is about the at least one piece of second        policy information and included in the policy response message        sent by the sending unit is used as a policy convergence        indication; or    -   the policy response message sent by the sending unit further        includes a policy convergence indication.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect,the policy convergence indication is used for indicating any one of thefollowing converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect,the server further includes:

-   -   a determining unit, configured to determine the policy        convergence indication according to at least one relationship in        a configuration relationship, a location relationship, and a        roaming relationship between the first policy server and the at        least one second policy server.

With reference to the fifth aspect, or the first possible implementationmanner of the fifth aspect, or the second possible implementation mannerof the fifth aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of thefifth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, the server further includes:

-   -   a first selecting unit, configured to: when the policy request        message received by the receiving unit includes an identifier of        at least one second policy server found by the UE, select the at        least one second policy server for the UE; or when the policy        request message received by the receiving unit includes an        identifier of at least one piece of second policy information of        at least one second policy server found by the UE, select the        identifier of the at least one piece of second policy        information for the UE.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect,

-   -   when the policy request message received by the receiving unit        includes the identifier of the at least one second policy server        found by the UE, the information that is about the at least one        piece of second policy information and included in the policy        response message sent by the sending unit includes the        identifier of the at least one second policy server; and    -   when the policy request message received by the receiving unit        includes the identifier of the at least one piece of second        policy information of the at least one second policy server        found by the UE, the information that is about the at least one        piece of second policy information and included in the policy        response message sent by the sending unit includes the        identifier of the at least one piece of second policy        information.

With reference to the fifth aspect, or the first possible implementationmanner of the fifth aspect, or the second possible implementation mannerof the fifth aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of thefifth aspect, or the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, or the fifth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect,in a sixth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect,

-   -   the policy request message received by the receiving unit        includes capability information of the UE, where the capability        information is used for indicating that the UE supports policy        convergence, or used for indicating a converging manner        supported by the UE; and    -   the server further includes: a second selecting unit, configured        to: when the capability information is used for indicating a        converging manner supported by the UE, select, for the UE        according to the converging manner supported by the UE, a        converging manner used for generating the converged policy        information.

A sixth aspect provides a server, where the server serves as a firstpolicy server, and includes: a bus, and a network interface and aprocessor that are connected by using the bus, where

-   -   the network interface is configured to connect to a UE in a        network; and    -   the processor is configured to receive, through the network        interface, a policy request message sent by the user equipment        UE, and send a policy response message to the UE through the        network interface, where the policy response message includes        first policy information of the first policy server and        information about at least one piece of second policy        information, the at least one piece of second policy information        is policy information of at least one second policy server, and        the policy response message is used for instructing the UE to        acquire the at least one piece of second policy information        according to the information about the at least one piece of        second policy information, and converge the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information to generate converged policy information.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the sixth aspect,

-   -   the information that is about the at least one piece of second        policy information and included in the policy response message        sent by the processor through the network interface is used as a        policy convergence indication; or    -   the policy response message sent by the processor through the        network interface further includes a policy convergence        indication.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect,the policy convergence indication is used for indicating any one of thefollowing converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy infoli        iation.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect,the processor is further configured to determine the policy convergenceindication according to at least one relationship in a configurationrelationship, a location relationship, and a roaming relationshipbetween the first policy server and the at least one second policyserver.

With reference to the sixth aspect, or the first possible implementationmanner of the sixth aspect, or the second possible implementation mannerof the sixth aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of thesixth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect,

-   -   the processor is further configured to: when the policy request        message received through the network interface includes an        identifier of at least one second policy server found by the UE,        select the at least one second policy server for the UE; or when        the policy request message received through the network        interface includes an identifier of at least one piece of second        policy information of at least one second policy server found by        the UE, select the identifier of the at least one piece of        second policy information for the UE.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect,

-   -   when the policy request message received by the processor        through the network interface includes the identifier of the at        least one second policy server found by the UE, the information        that is about the at least one piece of second policy        information and included in the policy response message sent by        the processor through the network interface includes the        identifier of the at least one second policy server; and    -   when the policy request message received by the processor        through the network interface includes the identifier of the at        least one piece of second policy information of the at least one        second policy server found by the UE, the information that is        about the at least one piece of second policy information and        included in the policy response message sent by the processor        through the network interface includes the identifier of the at        least one piece of second policy information.

With reference to the sixth aspect, or the first possible implementationmanner of the sixth aspect, or the second possible implementation mannerof the sixth aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of thesixth aspect, or the fourth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, or the fifth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect,in a sixth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect,

-   -   the policy request message received by the processor through the        network interface includes capability information of the UE,        where the capability information is used for indicating that the        UE supports policy convergence, or used for indicating a        converging manner supported by the UE; and    -   the processor is further configured to: when the capability        information is used for indicating a converging manner supported        by the UE, select, for the UE according to the converging manner        supported by the UE, a converging manner used for generating the        converged policy information.

In the embodiments of the present invention, a UE sends a policy requestmessage to a first policy server; the first policy server receives apolicy response message, where the policy response message includesfirst policy information of the first policy server and informationabout at least one piece of second policy information, and the at leastone piece of second policy information is policy information of at leastone second policy server; and the UE acquires the at least one piece ofsecond policy information according to the information about the atleast one piece of second policy information, and converges, accordingto the policy response message, the first policy information and the atleast one piece of second policy information to generate convergedpolicy information. By applying the embodiments of the presentinvention, when there are at least two policy servers providing policyinformation to a UE at the same time, policy information of differentpolicy servers can be converged, so that occurrence of policy conflictis prevented, and the UE can access a target network according toconverged policy information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention or more clearly, the following briefly introduces theaccompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or theprior art. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the followingdescription show merely some embodiments of the present invention, and aperson of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings fromthese accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1A is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for policyconverging according to the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for policyconverging according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for policyconverging according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for policyconverging according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for policyconverging according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for policyconverging according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a UE according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a UE according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a server according to thepresent invention; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a server according tothe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following embodiments of the present invention provide a method forpolicy converging, a UE, and a server.

In the prior art, an ANDSF server and a WFA server may provide policyinformation to a UE at the same time, thereby leading to policy conflictand causing that it may be difficult for the UE to select a suitablepolicy to access a network. Therefore, in the embodiments of the presentinvention, when the foregoing problem is solved, when there are at leasttwo policy servers providing network access policies to a UE at the sametime, the UE accesses a network by using a converged policy.

In the following illustrated embodiments of the present invention,description is made by using policy convergence and access when twopolicy servers provide network access policies to a UE as an example,where the two policy servers separately are a first policy server and asecond policy server, and forms of the first policy server and thesecond policy server are not limited in the embodiments of the presentinvention, for example, the first policy server may be an ANDSF server,and the second policy server may be a WFA server, or the second policyserver may be another ANDSF server.

In the following embodiments of the present invention, a UE may be astatic device or a mobile device, UEs may be distributed in an entirewireless network, the UE may be referred to as a terminal (terminal) ora mobile station (mobile station), and the UE may specifically be apersonal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), a wirelesscommunications device, a laptop computer (laptop computer), or the like.A UE identifier is information that can uniquely identify the UE, forexample, the UE identifier may be an international mobile subscriberidentity (International Mobile Subscriber Identity, IMSI), aninternational mobile equipment identity (International Mobile EquipmentID, IMEI), or a mobile station international integrated services digitalnetwork number (MSISDN), which is not limited in the embodiments of thepresent invention.

To make a person skilled in the art better understand the technicalsolutions in the embodiments of the present invention, and make theforegoing objectives, features, and advantages of the embodiments of thepresent invention more comprehensible, the following further describesthe technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Refer to FIG. 1A, which is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method forpolicy converging according to the present invention. In thisembodiment, a policy convergence process is described from a UE side:

Step 101: A UE sends a policy request message to a first policy server.

Optionally, the policy request message may include an identifier of atleast one second policy server found by the UE, so that the first policyserver selects the at least one second policy server for the UE; or thepolicy request message may include an identifier of at least one pieceof second policy information of at least one second policy server foundby the UE, so that the first policy server selects the identifier of theat least one piece of second policy information for the UE.

Optionally, the policy request message may further include capabilityinformation of the UE, where the capability information is used forindicating that the UE supports policy convergence, or used forindicating a converging manner supported by the UE, so that the firstpolicy server selects, for the UE according to the converging mannersupported by the UE, a converging manner used for generating theconverged policy information.

Step 102: The UE receives a policy response message from the firstpolicy server, where the policy response message includes first policyinformation of the first policy server and information about at leastone piece of second policy information, and the at least one piece ofsecond policy information is policy information of at least one secondpolicy server.

Optionally, the information that is about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information and in the policy response message may be usedas a policy convergence indication, or the policy response message mayinclude a policy convergence indication. The policy convergenceindication is used for indicating any one of the following convergingmanners: the converged policy information is policy information with ahighest priority in the first policy information and the at least onepiece of second policy information; for a same target access network,policy items in the converged policy information are a union set of apolicy item in the first policy information and a policy item in the atleast one piece of second policy information; and for a same targetaccess network, each policy item in the converged policy information isa policy item with a highest priority in policy items of a same type inthe first policy information and the at least one piece of second policyinformation. The policy convergence indication may be a policyconvergence indication determined by the first policy server accordingto at least one relationship in a configuration relationship, a locationrelationship, and a roaming relationship between the first policy serverand the at least one second policy server.

Optionally, when the policy request message includes the identifier ofthe at least one second policy server found by the UE, the informationthat is about the at least one piece of second policy information andincluded in the policy response message may include the identifier ofthe at least one second policy server; and when the policy requestmessage includes the identifier of the at least one piece of secondpolicy information of the at least one second policy server found by theUE, the information that is about the at least one piece of secondpolicy information and included in the policy response message mayinclude the identifier of the at least one piece of second policyinformation.

Step 103: The UE acquires the at least one piece of second policyinformation according to the information about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information.

Step 104: The UE converges, according to the policy response message,the first policy information and the at least one piece of second policyinformation to generate converged policy information.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiment, when there are at leasttwo policy servers providing policy information to a UE at the sametime, policy information of different policy servers can be converged,so that occurrence of policy conflict is prevented, and the UE canaccess a target network according to converged policy information.

Refer to FIG. 1B, which is a flowchart of another embodiment of a methodfor policy converging according to the present invention. In thisembodiment, a policy convergence process is described from a policyserver side:

Step 111: A first policy server receives a policy request message sentby a UE.

Optionally, when the policy request message includes an identifier of atleast one second policy server found by the UE, the first policy servermay select the at least one second policy server for the UE; or when thepolicy request message includes an identifier of at least one piece ofsecond policy information of at least one second policy server found bythe UE, the first policy server may select the identifier of the atleast one piece of second policy information for the UE.

Optionally, the policy request message may further include capabilityinformation of the UE, where the capability information is used forindicating that the UE supports policy convergence, or used forindicating a converging manner supported by the UE; and correspondingly,the first policy server may select, for the UE according to theconverging manner supported by the UE, a converging manner used forgenerating the converged policy information.

Step 112: The first policy server sends a policy response message to theUE, where the policy response message includes first policy informationof the first policy server and information about at least one piece ofsecond policy information.

The at least one piece of second policy information is policyinformation of at least one second policy server, and the policyresponse message is used for instructing the UE to acquire the at leastone piece of second policy information according to the informationabout the at least one piece of second policy information, and convergethe first policy information and the at least one piece of second policyinformation to generate converged policy information.

Optionally, the information that is about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information and in the policy response message may be usedas a policy convergence indication, or the policy response message mayinclude a policy convergence indication. The policy convergenceindication is used for indicating any one of the following convergingmanners: the converged policy information is policy information with ahighest priority in the first policy information and the at least onepiece of second policy information; for a same target access network,policy items in the converged policy information are a union set of apolicy item in the first policy information and a policy item in the atleast one piece of second policy information; and for a same targetaccess network, each policy item in the converged policy information isa policy item with a highest priority in policy items of a same type inthe first policy information and the at least one piece of second policyinformation. The policy convergence indication may be a policyconvergence indication determined by the first policy server accordingto at least one relationship in a configuration relationship, a locationrelationship, and a roaming relationship between the first policy serverand the at least one second policy server.

Optionally, when the policy request message includes the identifier ofthe at least one second policy server found by the UE, the informationthat is about the at least one piece of second policy information andincluded in the policy response message may include an identifier of theat least one second policy server; and when the policy request messageincludes the identifier of the at least one piece of second policyinformation of the at least one second policy server found by the UE,the information that is about the at least one piece of second policyinformation and included in the policy response message may include theidentifier of the at least one piece of second policy information.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiment, when there are at leasttwo policy servers providing policy information to a UE at the sametime, policy information of different policy servers can be converged,so that occurrence of policy conflict is prevented, and the UE canaccess a target network according to converged policy information.

Refer to FIG. 2, which is a flowchart of another embodiment of a methodfor policy converging according to the present invention. In thisembodiment, policy convergence and network access processes aredescribed by means of interaction between a UE and two policy servers:

Step 201: A UE attaches to a network side by interacting with a networkdevice.

In this embodiment, a process of attaching to the network side by the UEis consistent with that in the prior art. In the attachment process, theUE needs to perform bidirectional authentication with the network side,and after the UE passes the authentication, the network device allocatesan IP address for the UE, and the UE interacts, by using the IP address,with servers that are in an access network and include a first policyserver and a second policy server. When the first policy server and thesecond policy server are servers on a same network side, the UE directlyattaches to the network side. When the first policy server and thesecond policy server are servers on different network sides, the UE mayselect either one of the network sides for attachment, for example, whena 3GPP network and a WLAN network coexist, the UE may attach to the 3GPPnetwork, or may attach to the WLAN network.

Step 202: The UE sends a policy request message to a first policyserver, where the policy request message includes a UE identifier.

In this embodiment, besides the UE identifier, the policy requestmessage may further include at least one type of information in locationinformation of the UE, capability information of the UE, whether the UEsupports concurrent access, and a type of a policy requested by the UE.The capability information of the UE may further include at least one ofwhether the UE supports the protocol Hot Spot 2.0, whether the UEsupports the protocol 802.11u, and whether the UE can read policyinformation sent by a second policy server.

Step 203: The first policy server selects first policy information forthe UE according to the received policy request message.

In this embodiment, the first policy server stores in advance acorrespondence between the UE identifier and policy information to beallocated to the UE, where the policy information to be allocated to theUE is policy information that can be supported by the UE.

After receiving the policy request message, the first policy serverqueries the stored correspondence according to the UE identifierincluded in the policy request message, to obtain the policy informationto be allocated to the UE, and selects at least one piece of policyinformation from the obtained policy information for the UE as the firstpolicy information selected by the first policy server for the UE. Thefirst policy server may use an existing manner to select the firstpolicy information for the UE, for example, if the obtained policyinformation has a priority, one piece of policy information with ahighest priority is selected from the obtained policy information as thefirst policy information; for another example, if the policy requestmessage further carries the location information of the UE, one piece ofpolicy information matching the location information of the UE may beselected as the first policy information according to a location thatthe policy information applies to; for another example, if the policyrequest message includes the type of the policy requested by the UE, onepiece of policy information matching the type may be selected as thefirst policy information. As can be seen from that, the first policyserver can flexibly select the first policy information for the UEaccording to a requirement or information carried in the policy requestmessage, which is not limited in this embodiment of the presentinvention.

Step 204: The first policy server selects one second policy server forthe UE, and obtains a second identifier of the second policy server.

In this embodiment, the first policy server may store in advance anidentifier of a second policy server, and when there are multiple secondpolicy servers, the first policy server selects one second policy serverfrom the multiple second policy servers for the UE, and obtains anidentifier of the second policy server. In this embodiment, a manner forthe first policy server to select a second policy server is not limited,where the first policy server may select a second policy server based onthe location information of the UE, for example, may select a secondpolicy server nearest to a location of the UE.

Optionally, when the capability infon ation of the UE in the policyrequest message sent by the UE includes whether the UE can read policyinformation sent by a second policy server, the first policy server mayselect a second policy server for the UE only when the informationindicates yes.

In this embodiment, an identifier of a policy server is information thatcan uniquely identify the policy server, and the identifier may be afully qualified domain name (Fully Qualified Domain Name, FQDN) of thepolicy server, or an IP address of the policy server, or a name (Name)of the policy server, or a number (number) of the policy server, or thelike.

Step 205: The first policy server returns a policy response message tothe UE, where the policy response message includes the first policyinformation, the identifier of the second policy server, and a policyconvergence indication.

In this embodiment, the policy convergence indication is used forindicating a manner for the UE to converge the first policy informationof the first policy server and second policy information of the secondpolicy server. Several possible converging manners are as follows:

-   -   a first converging manner, in which a priority of the first        policy information is higher than that of the second policy        information, and the UE selects an access network according to        the first policy information, and at the same time, the UE may        ignore the second policy information or use the second policy        information as a supplement to the first policy information;    -   a second converging manner, in which a priority of the second        policy information is higher than that of the first policy        information, and the UE selects an access network according to        the second policy information, and at the same time, the UE may        ignore the first policy information or use the first policy        information as a supplement to the second policy information;        and    -   a third converging manner, in which the first policy information        and the second policy information are converged.

The foregoing three converging manners are merely exemplary, and anotherconverging manner may be used according to a requirement during actualapplication, which is not limited in this embodiment of the presentinvention.

In this embodiment of the present invention, which converging manner isconfigured by the first policy server is not limited, either. Forexample, the first policy server may configure the policy convergenceindication according to a network identifier of the second policyserver, for example, a public land mobile network (Public Land MobileNetwork, PLMN) ID, where when the second policy server and the firstpolicy server belong to a same network, the first policy server mayconfigure the second converging manner, or when the second policy serverand the first policy server belong to different networks, but a roamingrelationship exists between the different networks, the first policyserver may configure the first or third converging manner. For the thirdconverging manner, if, for example, a policy in the first policy serverincludes an identifier of a target access network, and a policy in thesecond policy server includes other limiting conditions for the targetaccess network, when the third converging manner is used, the userequipment first checks whether the target access network meets thelimiting conditions in the policy provided by the second policy server.If the target access network meets the limiting conditions, the targetaccess network can be accessed.

Step 206: The UE sends a policy request message to the second policyserver according to the second identifier in the policy responsemessage, where the policy request message includes the UE identifier.

After receiving the policy response message returned by the first policyserver, the UE obtains the first policy information, the identifier ofthe second policy server, and the policy convergence indication from thepolicy response message. The UE may establish a connection to thecorresponding second policy server according to the second identifier byusing the IP address allocated in step 201. After establishing theconnection, the UE sends a policy request message including the UEidentifier to the second policy server.

Optionally, similar to step 202, besides the UE identifier, the policyrequest message may further include at least one type of information inthe location information of the UE, the capability information of theUE, whether the UE supports concurrent access, and the type of thepolicy requested by the UE. Details are not described herein again.

Step 207: The second policy server selects second policy information forthe UE according to the received policy request message.

Similar to step 203, the second policy server also stores in advance acorrespondence between the UE identifier and policy information to beallocated to the UE, where the policy information to be allocated to theUE is policy information that can be supported by the UE. Afterreceiving the policy request message, the second policy server queriesthe stored correspondence according to the UE identifier included in thepolicy request message, to obtain the policy information to be allocatedto the UE, and selects one piece of policy information from the obtainedpolicy information for the UE as the second policy information selectedby the second policy server for the UE. In addition, all second policyservers in a network may store universal policy information; therefore,after receiving the policy request message, the second policy server mayuse the universal policy information as the second policy information.

For a specific manner for the second policy server to select the secondpolicy information, reference may be made to the description in step203. Details are not described herein again.

Step 208: The second policy server returns a policy response message tothe UE, where the policy response message includes the second policyinformation.

Step 209: The UE converges the first policy information and the secondpolicy information according to the policy convergence indication.

Step 210: The UE accesses a target network according to converged policyinformation.

With reference to the three possible converging manners described instep 205, when the policy convergence indication indicates the firstconverging manner, the UE may select an access network by using thefirst policy information; when the policy convergence indicationindicates the second converging manner, the UE may select an accessnetwork by using the second policy information; or when the policyconvergence indication indicates the third converging manner, if, forexample, the first policy information includes multiple selectableaccess networks, the UE may select one first target access network in anexisting manner, acquire current state information of the first targetaccess network, check whether the current state information meets anaccess network selection condition specified by the second policyinformation, and if the current state information meets the accessnetwork selection condition, use the first target access network as thetarget access network of the UE, or if the current state informationdoes not meet the access network selection condition, the UE reselectsone first target access network in a descending order of the accessnetworks in the first policy information, and repeats the previousoperations until one first target access network meeting the accessnetwork selection condition specified by the second policy informationis selected as the target access network of the UE; for another example,if the first policy information indicates that at a current location, afirst-preferred target cell of the UE is an SSID1, and asecond-preferred cell is an SSID2, and the second policy informationindicates that at the current location, the UE can access the targetcell SSID1 only when load on the SSID1 is less than 70%, and asecond-preferred cell is an SSID3, the converged policy information mayindicate that a current first-preferred target cell of the UE is theSSID1, load on the SSID1 is less than 70%, and a second-preferred targetcell is the SSID2.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiment, when there are at leasttwo policy servers providing policy information to a UE at the sametime, policy information of different policy servers can be converged,so that occurrence of policy conflict is prevented, and the UE canaccess a target network according to converged policy information.

Refer to FIG. 3, which is a flowchart of another embodiment of a methodfor policy converging according to the present invention. In thisembodiment, policy convergence and network access processes aredescribed by means of interaction between a UE and two policy servers:

Step 301: A UE attaches to a network side by interacting with a networkdevice.

In this embodiment, a process of attaching to the network side by the UEis consistent with that in the prior art. In the attachment process, theUE needs to perfoini bidirectional authentication with the network side,and after the UE passes the authentication, the network device allocatesan IP address for the UE, and the UE interacts, by using the IP address,with servers that are in an access network and include a first policyserver and a second policy server. When the first policy server and thesecond policy server are servers on a same network side, the UE directlyattaches to the network side. When the first policy server and thesecond policy server are servers on different network sides, the UE mayselect either one of the network sides for attachment, for example, whena 3GPP network and a WLAN network coexist, the UE may attach to the 3GPPnetwork, or may attach to the WLAN network.

Step 302: The UE searches for a second policy server, and obtains anidentifier of each found second policy server.

In this embodiment, a search area of the UE may include multiple secondpolicy servers, and the UE may discover a second policy server in thesearch area by listening to a broadcast message and identifying an FQDNcarried in the broadcast message, and obtain an identifier of each foundsecond policy server.

Optionally, after finding each second policy server, the UE mayestablish a connection to each second policy server by using theallocated IP address, and then acquire policy information from thesecond policy server based on the established connection. When acquiringthe policy information of each second policy server, the UE may send apolicy request message to each second policy server, where the policyrequest message includes a UE identifier. In this embodiment, besidesthe UE identifier, the policy request message may further include atleast one type of information in location information of the UE,capability information of the UE, whether the UE supports concurrentaccess, and a type of a policy requested by the UE. The capabilityinformation of the UE may further include at least one of whether the UEsupports the protocol Hot Spot 2.0, whether the UE supports the protocol802.11u, and whether the UE can read policy information sent by a secondpolicy server. Each second policy server stores in advance acorrespondence between the UE identifier and policy information to beallocated to the UE, where the policy information to be allocated to theUE is policy information that can be supported by the UE. Afterreceiving the policy request message, each second policy server queriesthe stored correspondence according to the UE identifier included in thepolicy request message, to obtain the policy information to be allocatedto the UE, and selects one piece of policy information for the UE fromthe obtained policy information, and each second policy server sends theselected policy information to the UE. Each second policy server may usean existing manner to select policy information for the UE, for example,if the obtained policy information has a priority, one piece of policyinformation with a highest priority is selected from the obtained policyinformation; for another example, if the policy request message furthercarries the location information of the UE, one piece of policyinformation matching the location information of the UE may be selectedaccording to a location that the policy information applies to; foranother example, if the policy request message includes the type of thepolicy requested by the UE, one piece of policy information matching thetype may be selected. As can be seen from that, each second policyserver can flexibly select policy information for the UE according to arequirement or information carried in the policy request message, whichis not limited in this embodiment of the present invention. In addition,all the second policy servers in a network may store universal policyinformation; therefore, after receiving the policy request message, thesecond policy servers may use the universal policy information as secondpolicy information.

After the UE obtains the policy information of each found second policyserver, the UE may store a correspondence between the identifier and thepolicy information of each second policy server. For example, the UE maystore the correspondence in a form of a list, where each entry includesan identifier and corresponding policy information of a second policyserver.

In this embodiment, an identifier of a policy server is information thatcan uniquely identify the policy server, and the identifier may be anFQDN of the policy server, or an IP address of the policy server, or aname (Name) of the policy server, or a number (number) of the policyserver, or the like.

Step 303: The UE sends a policy request message to a first policyserver, where the policy request message includes a UE identifier andthe identifier of each second policy server.

In this embodiment, besides the UE identifier and the identifier of thesecond policy server stored by the UE, the policy request message mayfurther include at least one type of information in the locationinformation of the UE, the capability information of the UE, whether theUE supports concurrent access, and the type of the policy requested bythe UE. The capability information of the UE may further include atleast one of whether the UE supports the protocol Hot Spot 2.0, whetherthe UE supports the protocol 802.11u, and whether the UE can read policyinformation sent by a second policy server.

Step 304: The first policy server selects first policy information forthe UE according to the received policy request message.

In this embodiment, the first policy server stores in advance acorrespondence between the UE identifier and policy information to beallocated to the UE, where the policy information to be allocated to theUE is policy information that can be supported by the UE. Afterreceiving the policy request message, the first policy server queriesthe stored correspondence according to the UE identifier included in thepolicy request message, to obtain the policy information to be allocatedto the UE, and selects one piece of policy information from the obtainedpolicy information for the UE as the first policy information selectedby the first policy server for the UE. For a specific manner for thefirst policy server to select the first policy information for the UE,reference may be made to the description in step 302. Details are notdescribed herein again.

Step 305: The first policy server selects one second policy server forthe UE according to the identifier of each second policy server.

In this embodiment, when selecting a second policy server, the firstpolicy server may first select one second policy server from theidentifier of each second policy server included in the policy requestmessage, and use an identifier of the second policy server as a secondidentifier. When each second policy server included in the policyrequest message does not meet a requirement, the first policy server mayfurther select one second policy server for the UE from an identifier ofa second policy server stored by the first policy server. In thisembodiment, a manner for selecting a second policy server is notlimited, where the first policy server may select a second policy serverbased on the location information of the UE, for example, may select asecond policy server nearest to a location of the UE.

Optionally, when the capability information of the UE in the policyrequest message sent by the UE includes whether the UE can read policyinformation sent by a second policy server, the first policy server mayselect a second identifier of a second policy server for the UE onlywhen the information indicates yes.

Step 306: The first policy server returns a policy response message tothe UE, where the policy response message includes the first policyinformation, a second identifier of the second policy server, and apolicy convergence indication.

In this embodiment, the policy convergence indication is used forindicating a manner for the UE to converge the first policy informationof the first policy server and second policy information of the secondpolicy server. Several possible converging manners are as follows:

-   -   a first converging manner, in which a priority of the first        policy information is higher than that of the second policy        information, and the UE selects an access network according to        the first policy information, and at the same time, the UE may        ignore the second policy information or use the second policy        information as a supplement to the first policy information;    -   a second converging manner, in which a priority of the second        policy information is higher than that of the first policy        information, and the UE selects an access network according to        the second policy information, and at the same time, the UE may        ignore the first policy information or use the first policy        information as a supplement to the second policy infainiation;        and    -   a third converging manner, in which the first policy information        and the second policy information are converged.

The foregoing three converging manners are merely exemplary, and anotherconverging manner may be used according to a requirement during actualapplication, which is not limited in this embodiment of the presentinvention.

In this embodiment of the present invention, which converging manner isconfigured by the first policy server is not limited, either. Forexample, the first policy server may configure the policy convergenceindication according to a network identifier (PLMN ID) of the secondpolicy server, where when the second policy server and the first policyserver belong to a same network, the first policy server may configurethe second converging manner, or when the second policy server and thefirst policy server belong to different networks, but a roamingrelationship exists between the different networks, the first policyserver may configure the first or third converging manner. For the thirdconverging manner, if, for example, a policy in the first policy serverincludes an identifier of a target access network, and a policy in thesecond policy server includes other limiting conditions for the targetaccess network, when the third converging manner is used, the userequipment first checks whether the target access network meets thelimiting conditions in the policy provided by the second policy server.If the target access network meets the limiting conditions, the targetaccess network can be accessed.

Step 307: The UE sends a policy request message to the correspondingsecond policy server according to the second identifier, where thepolicy request message includes the UE identifier.

When the second identifier of the target second policy server includedin the policy response message is not an identifier in thecorrespondence stored by the UE, the UE may establish a connection tothe second policy server corresponding to the second identifier in thepolicy response message, and send a policy request message to the secondpolicy server, where the policy request message includes the UEidentifier.

Optionally, similar to the policy request message sent to each secondpolicy server in step 303, besides the UE identifier, the policy requestmessage may further include at least one type of information in thelocation information of the UE, the capability infoi illation of the UE,whether the UE supports concurrent access, and the type of the policyrequested by the UE. Details are not described herein again.

Step 308: The second policy server selects second policy information forthe UE according to the received policy request message.

The second policy server stores in advance a correspondence between theUE identifier and policy information to be allocated to the UE, wherethe policy information to be allocated to the UE is policy informationthat can be supported by the UE. After receiving the policy requestmessage, the second policy server queries the stored correspondenceaccording to the UE identifier included in the policy request message,to obtain the policy informiation to be allocated to the UE, and selectsone piece of policy information from the obtained policy information forthe UE as the second policy information, and the second policy serversends the selected policy information to the UE. For a manner for thesecond policy server to select the policy information for the UE,reference may be made to the description in step 302. Details are notdescribed herein again.

Step 309: The second policy server returns a policy response message tothe UE, where the policy response message includes the second policyinformation.

Step 310: The UE converges the first policy information and the secondpolicy information according to the policy convergence indication.

Step 311: The UE accesses a target network according to converged policyinformation.

With reference to the three possible converging manners described instep 306, when the policy convergence indication indicates the firstconverging manner, the UE may select an access network by using thefirst policy information; when the policy convergence indicationindicates the second converging manner, the UE may select an accessnetwork by using the second policy information; or when the policyconvergence indication indicates the third converging manner, if, forexample, the first policy information includes multiple selectableaccess networks, the UE may select one first target access network in anexisting manner, acquire current state information of the first targetaccess network, check whether the current state information meets anaccess network selection condition specified by the second policyinformation, and if the current state information meets the accessnetwork selection condition, use the first target access network as thetarget access network of the UE, or if the current state informationdoes not meet the access network selection condition, the UE reselectsone first target access network in a descending order of the accessnetworks in the first policy information, and repeats the previousoperations until one first target access network meeting the accessnetwork selection condition specified by the second policy informationis selected as the target access network of the UE; for another example,if the first policy information indicates that at a current location, afirst-preferred target cell of the UE is an SSID1, and asecond-preferred cell is an SSID2, and the second policy informationindicates that at the current location, the UE can access the targetcell SSID1 only when load on the SSID1 is less than 70%, and asecond-preferred cell is an SSID3, the converged policy information mayindicate that a current first-preferred target cell of the UE is theSSID1, load on the SSID1 is less than 70%, and a second-preferred targetcell is the SSID2.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiment, when there are at leasttwo policy servers providing policy information to a UE at the sametime, policy information of different policy servers can be converged,so that occurrence of policy conflict is prevented, and the UE canaccess a target network according to converged policy information.

Refer to FIG. 4, which is a flowchart of another embodiment of a methodfor policy converging according to the present invention. In thisembodiment, policy convergence and network access processes aredescribed by means of interaction between a UE and two policy servers:

Step 401: A first policy server stores in real time a correspondencebetween policy information of each second policy server in a network anda policy identifier.

In this embodiment, the first policy server may synchronously store, byinteracting with a second policy server, a correspondence between policyinformation in the second policy server and a policy identifier. Apolicy identifier refers to an identifier that can uniquely identifyeach piece of policy information, and the policy identifier may consistof a second identifier of a second policy server and a unique identifierallocated by the second policy server to policy information.

Step 402: A UE attaches to a network side by interacting with a networkdevice.

In this embodiment, a process of attaching to the network side by the UEis consistent with that in the prior art. In the attachment process, theUE needs to perform bidirectional authentication with the network side,and after the UE passes the authentication, the network device allocatesan IP address for the UE, and the UE interacts, by using the IP address,with servers that are in an access network and include the first policyserver and the second policy server. When the first policy server andthe second policy server are servers on a same network side, the UEdirectly attaches to the network side. When the first policy server andthe second policy server are servers on different network sides, the UEmay select either one of the network sides for attachment, for example,when a 3GPP network and a WLAN network coexist, the UE may attach to the3GPP network, or may attach to the WLAN network.

Step 403: The UE searches for a second policy server, and acquires apolicy identifier of policy information from each found second policyserver.

In this embodiment, a search area of the UE may include multiple secondpolicy servers, and the UE may discover a second policy server in thesearch area by listening to a broadcast message and identifying an FQDNcarried in the broadcast message. After finding each second policyserver, the UE may establish a connection to each second policy serverby using the allocated IP address, and then acquire a policy identifierof policy information from the second policy server based on theestablished connection.

Optionally, at the same time when acquiring the policy identifier, theUE may also acquire policy information in the second policy server. Whenacquiring the policy information of each second policy server, the UEmay send a policy request message to each second policy server, wherethe policy request message includes a UE identifier. In this embodiment,besides the UE identifier, the policy request message may furtherinclude at least one type of information in location information of theUE, capability information of the UE, whether the UE supports concurrentaccess, and a type of a policy requested by the UE. The capabilityinformation of the UE may further include at least one of whether the UEsupports the protocol Hot Spot 2.0, whether the UE supports the protocol802.11u, and whether the UE can read policy information sent by a secondpolicy server. Correspondingly, the UE may store a correspondencebetween policy information of a found second policy server and a policyidentifier. For example, the UE may store the correspondence in a formof a list, where each entry includes a policy identifier and policyinformation.

Each second policy server stores in advance a correspondence between theUE identifier and policy information to be allocated to the UE, wherethe policy information to be allocated to the UE is policy informationthat can be supported by the UE. After receiving the policy requestmessage, each second policy server queries the stored correspondenceaccording to the UE identifier included in the policy request message,to obtain the policy information to be allocated to the UE, and selectsone piece of policy information for the UE from the obtained policyinformation. Each second policy server may use an existing manner toselect policy information for the UE, for example, if the obtainedpolicy information has a priority, one piece of policy information witha highest priority is selected from the obtained policy information; foranother example, if the policy request message further carries thelocation information of the UE, one piece of policy information matchingthe location information of the UE may be selected according to alocation that the policy information applies to; for another example, ifthe policy request message includes the type of the policy requested bythe UE, one piece of policy information matching the type may beselected. As can be seen from that, each second policy server canflexibly select policy information for the UE according to a requirementor information carried in the policy request message, which is notlimited in this embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, each second policy server configures a policyidentifier for policy information, where the policy identifier consistsof the second identifier of the second policy server and a uniqueidentifier allocated by the second policy server for the policyinformation; therefore, at the same time when sending the selectedpolicy information to the UE, each second policy server sends a policyidentifier of the policy information.

Step 404: The UE sends a policy request message to the first policyserver, where the policy request message includes a UE identifier andthe policy identifier.

In this embodiment, besides the UE identifier and the policy identifierstored by the UE, the policy request message may further include atleast one type of information in the location information of the UE, thecapability information of the UE, whether the UE supports concurrentaccess, and the type of the policy requested by the UE. The capabilityinformation of the UE may further include at least one of whether the UEsupports the protocol Hot Spot 2.0, whether the UE supports the protocol802.11u, and whether the UE can read policy information sent by a secondpolicy server.

Step 405: The first policy server selects first policy information forthe UE according to the received policy request message.

In this embodiment, the first policy server stores in advance acorrespondence between the UE identifier and policy information to beallocated to the UE, where the policy information to be allocated to theUE is policy information that can be supported by the UE. Afterreceiving the policy request message, the first policy server queriesthe stored correspondence according to the UE identifier included in thepolicy request message, to obtain the policy information to be allocatedto the UE, and selects one piece of policy information from the obtainedpolicy information for the UE as the first policy information selectedby the first policy server for the UE. For a specific manner for thefirst policy server to select the first policy information for the UE,reference may be made to the description in step 403. Details are notdescribed herein again.

Step 406: The first policy server queries the stored correspondencebetween the policy information and the policy identifier according tothe policy identifier included in the policy request message, to selectone piece of second policy information for the UE.

In this embodiment, in step 401, the first policy server synchronouslystores in real time the correspondence between the policy information ofeach second policy server in the network and the policy identifier;therefore, the first policy server may query the correspondenceaccording to the policy identifier included in the policy requestmessage, to obtain policy information corresponding to each policyidentifier, and then select one piece of second policy information fromthe policy information.

When selecting one piece of second policy information from multiplepieces of policy information, the first policy server may select, in adescending order of priorities of all policy information of the multiplepieces of policy information, one piece of policy information with ahighest priority as the second policy information.

Step 407: The first policy server returns a policy response message tothe UE, where the policy response message includes the first policyinformation, a policy identifier of the second policy information, and apolicy convergence indication.

In this embodiment, the policy convergence indication is used forindicating a manner for the UE to converge the first policy informationof the first policy server and the second policy information of thesecond policy server. Several possible converging manners are asfollows:

-   -   a first converging manner, in which a priority of the first        policy information is higher than that of the second policy        information, and the UE selects an access network according to        the first policy information, and at the same time, the UE may        ignore the second policy information or use the second policy        information as a supplement to the first policy information;    -   a second converging manner, in which a priority of the second        policy information is higher than that of the first policy        information, and the UE selects an access network according to        the second policy information, and at the same time, the UE may        ignore the first policy information or use the first policy        information as a supplement to the second policy information;        and    -   a third converging manner, in which the first policy information        and the second policy information are converged.

The foregoing three converging manners are merely exemplary, and anotherconverging manner may be used according to a requirement during actualapplication, which is not limited in this embodiment of the presentinvention.

In this embodiment of the present invention, which converging manner isconfigured by the first policy server is not limited, either. Forexample, the first policy server may configure the policy convergenceindication according to a network identifier (PLMN ID) of the secondpolicy server, where when the second policy server and the first policyserver belong to a same network, the first policy server may configurethe second converging manner, or when the second policy server and thefirst policy server belong to different networks, but a roamingrelationship exists between the different networks, the first policyserver may configure the first or third converging manner. For the thirdconverging manner, if, for example, a policy in the first policy serverincludes an identifier of a target access network, and a policy in thesecond policy server includes other limiting conditions for the targetaccess network, when the third converging manner is used, the userequipment first checks whether the target access network meets thelimiting conditions in the policy provided by the second policy server.If the target access network meets the limiting conditions, the targetaccess network can be accessed.

Step 408: The UE obtains the second policy information corresponding tothe policy identifier included in the policy response message.

After the UE receives the policy response message, the second policyinformation corresponding to the policy identifier included in thepolicy response message is policy information selected by the firstpolicy server. The UE may acquire, according to an identifier of asecond policy server included in the policy identifier, the secondpolicy information from the corresponding second policy server; or whenin step 403, the UE further acquires the correspondence between thepolicy information and the policy identifier, the UE may query thecorrespondence according to the policy identifier to obtain the secondpolicy information.

Step 409: The UE converges the first policy information and the secondpolicy information according to the policy convergence indication.

Step 410: The UE accesses a target network according to converged policyinformation.

With reference to the three possible converging manners described instep 407, when the policy convergence indication indicates the firstconverging manner, the UE may select an access network by using thefirst policy information; when the policy convergence indicationindicates the second converging manner, the UE may select an accessnetwork by using the second policy information; or when the policyconvergence indication indicates the third converging manner, if, forexample, the first policy information includes multiple selectableaccess networks, the UE may select one first target access network in anexisting manner, acquire current state information of the first targetaccess network, check whether the current state information meets anaccess network selection condition specified by the second policyinformation, and if the current state information meets the accessnetwork selection condition, use the first target access network as thetarget access network of the UE, or if the current state infoluiationdoes not meet the access network selection condition, the UE reselectsone first target access network in a descending order of the accessnetworks in the first policy information, and repeats the previousoperations until one first target access network meeting the accessnetwork selection condition specified by the second policy informationis selected as the target access network of the UE; for another example,if the first policy information indicates that at a current location, afirst-preferred target cell of the UE is an SSID1, and asecond-preferred cell is an SSID2, and the second policy informationindicates that at the current location, the UE can access the targetcell SSID1 only when load on the SSID1 is less than 70%, and asecond-preferred cell is an SSID3, the converged policy information mayindicate that a current first-preferred target cell of the UE is theSSID1, load on the SSID1 is less than 70%, and a second-preferred targetcell is the SSID2.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiment, when there are at leasttwo policy servers providing policy information to a UE at the sametime, policy information of different policy servers can be converged,so that occurrence of policy conflict is prevented, and the UE canaccess a target network according to converged policy information.

Refer to FIG. 5, which is a flowchart of another embodiment of a methodfor policy converging according to the present invention. In thisembodiment, policy convergence and network access processes aredescribed by means of interaction between a UE and two policy servers:

Step 501: A UE attaches to a network side by interacting with a networkdevice.

In this embodiment, a process of attaching to the network side by the UEis consistent with that in the prior art. In the attachment process, theUE needs to perform bidirectional authentication with the network side,and after the UE passes the authentication, the network device allocatesan IP address for the UE, and the UE interacts, by using the IP address,with servers that are in an access network and include a first policyserver and a second policy server. When the first policy server and thesecond policy server are servers on a same network side, the UE directlyattaches to the network side. When the first policy server and thesecond policy server are servers on different network sides, the UE mayselect either one of the network sides for attachment, for example, whena 3GPP network and a WLAN network coexist, the UE may attach to the 3GPPnetwork, or may attach to the WLAN network.

Step 502: The UE searches for a second policy server, and acquirespolicy information from each found second policy server.

In this embodiment, a search area of the UE may include multiple secondpolicy servers, and the UE may discover a second policy server in thesearch area by listening to a broadcast message and identifying an FQDNcarried in the broadcast message. After finding each second policyserver, the UE may establish a connection to each second policy serverby using the allocated IP address, and then acquire policy informationfrom the second policy server based on the established connection.

When acquiring the policy information of each second policy server, theUE may send a policy request message to each second policy server, wherethe policy request message includes a UE identifier. In this embodiment,besides the UE identifier, the policy request message may furtherinclude at least one type of information in location information of theUE, capability information of the UE, whether the UE supports concurrentaccess, and a type of a policy requested by the UE. The capabilityinformation of the UE may further include at least one of whether the UEsupports the protocol Hot Spot 2.0, whether the UE supports the protocol802.11u, and whether the UE can read policy information sent by a secondpolicy server.

Each second policy server stores in advance a correspondence between theUE identifier and policy information to be allocated to the UE, wherethe policy information to be allocated to the UE is policy informationthat can be supported by the UE. After receiving the policy requestmessage, each second policy server queries the stored correspondenceaccording to the UE identifier included in the policy request message,to obtain the policy information to be allocated to the UE, and selectsone piece of policy information for the UE from the obtained policyinformation, and each second policy server sends the selected policyinformation to the UE. Each second policy server may use an existingmanner to select policy information for the UE, for example, if theobtained policy information has a priority, one piece of policyinformation with a highest priority is selected from the obtained policyinformation; for another example, if the policy request message furthercarries the location information of the UE, one piece of policyinformation matching the location information of the UE may be selectedaccording to a location that the policy information applies to; foranother example, if the policy request message includes the type of thepolicy requested by the UE, one piece of policy information matching thetype may be selected. As can be seen from that, each second policyserver can flexibly select policy information for the UE according to arequirement or information carried in the policy request message, whichis not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Step 503: The UE stores the policy information of each found secondpolicy server.

Step 504: The UE sends a policy request message to a first policyserver, where the policy request message includes a UE identifier andthe stored policy information of the second policy server.

In this embodiment, besides the UE identifier and the policy informationof the second policy server, the policy request message may furtherinclude at least one type of information in the location information ofthe UE, the capability information of the UE, whether the UE supportsconcurrent access, and the type of the policy requested by the UE. Thecapability information of the UE may further include at least one ofwhether the UE supports the protocol Hot Spot 2.0, whether the UEsupports the protocol 802.11u, and whether the UE can read policyinformation sent by a second policy server.

Step 505: The first policy server selects first policy information forthe UE according to the received policy request message.

In this embodiment, the first policy server stores in advance acorrespondence between the UE identifier and policy information to beallocated to the UE, where the policy information to be allocated to theUE is policy information that can be supported by the UE.

After receiving the policy request message, the first policy serverqueries the stored correspondence according to the UE identifierincluded in the policy request message, to obtain the policy informationto be allocated to the UE, and selects one piece of policy informationfrom the obtained policy information for the UE as the first policyinformation selected by the first policy server for the UE. The firstpolicy server may use an existing manner to select the first policyinformation for the UE, for example, if the obtained policy informationhas a priority, one piece of policy information with a highest priorityis selected from the obtained policy information as the first policyinformation; for another example, if the policy request message furthercarries the location information of the UE, one piece of policyinformation matching the location information of the UE may be selectedas the first policy information according to a location that the policyinformation applies to; for another example, if the policy requestmessage includes the type of the policy requested by the UE, one pieceof policy information matching the type may be selected as the firstpolicy information. As can be seen from that, the first policy servercan flexibly select the first policy information for the UE according toa requirement or information carried in the policy request message,which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Step 506: The first policy server converges the first policy informationand the policy information of the second policy server to obtainconverged policy information.

In this embodiment, the first policy server acquires, from the policyrequest message, multiple pieces of policy information from differentsecond policy servers, and the first policy server converges the firstpolicy information and the multiple pieces of policy information of thesecond policy servers. For example, the first policy informationindicates that at a current location, a first-preferred target cell ofthe UE is an SSID1, and a second-preferred cell is an SSID2, one pieceof second policy information indicates that at the current location, theUE can access the target cell SSID1 only when load on the SSID1 is lessthan 70%, and another piece of second policy information indicates thatat the current location, a roaming user can access the target cell SSID1only when load on the SSID1 is less than 60%; then if the first policyserver determines that for the cell SSID1, a current user is a roaminguser, the converged policy information may indicate that a currentfirst-preferred target cell of the UE is the SSID1 only when load on theSSID1 is less than 60%, and a second-preferred cell is the SSID2.

Step 507: The first policy server returns a policy response message tothe UE, where the policy response message includes the converged policyinformation.

Step 508: The UE accesses a target network according to the convergedpolicy information.

In step 507, the policy response message returned by the first policyserver includes the converged policy information; therefore, the UE canaccess the target network directly according to the converged policyinformation.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiment, when there are at leasttwo policy servers providing policy information to a UE at the sametime, policy information of different policy servers can be converged,so that occurrence of policy conflict is prevented, and the UE canaccess a target network according to converged policy information.

Corresponding to the embodiments of the method for policy convergingaccording to the present invention, the present invention furtherprovides embodiments of a UE and a server.

Refer to FIG. 6, which is a block diagram of an embodiment of a UEaccording to the present invention.

The UE includes: a sending unit 610, a receiving unit 620, an acquiringunit 630, and a converging unit 640, where

-   -   the sending unit 610 is configured to send a policy request        message to a first policy server;    -   the receiving unit 620 is configured to receive a policy        response message from the first policy server, where the policy        response message includes first policy information of the first        policy server and information about at least one piece of second        policy information, and the at least one piece of second policy        information is policy information of at least one second policy        server;    -   the acquiring unit 630 is configured to acquire the at least one        piece of second policy information according to the information        about the at least one piece of second policy information; and    -   the converging unit 640 is configured to converge, according to        the policy response message, the first policy information and        the at least one piece of second policy information to generate        converged policy information.

Optionally, the information that is about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information and included in the policy response messagereceived by the receiving unit 620 is used as a policy convergenceindication; or the policy response message received by the receivingunit 620 further includes a policy convergence indication.

Optionally, the policy convergence indication is used for indicating anyone of the following converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information.

Optionally, the policy convergence indication is a policy convergenceindication determined by the first policy server according to at leastone relationship in a configuration relationship, a locationrelationship, and a roaming relationship between the first policy serverand the at least one second policy server.

Optionally, the policy request message sent by the sending unit 610includes an identifier of at least one second policy server found by theUE, so that the first policy server selects the at least one secondpolicy server for the UE; or the policy request message sent by thesending unit 610 includes an identifier of at least one piece of secondpolicy information of at least one second policy server found by the UE,so that the first policy server selects the identifier of the at leastone piece of second policy information for the UE.

Optionally, when the policy request message sent by the sending unit 610includes the identifier of the at least one second policy server foundby the UE, the infoimation that is about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information and included in the policy response messagereceived by the receiving unit 620 includes the identifier of the atleast one second policy server; and when the policy request message sentby the sending unit 610 includes the identifier of the at least onepiece of second policy information of the at least one second policyserver found by the UE, the information that is about the at least onepiece of second policy information and included in the policy responsemessage received by the receiving unit 620 includes the identifier ofthe at least one piece of second policy information.

Optionally, the policy request message sent by the sending unit 610includes capability information of the UE, where the capabilityinformation is used for indicating that the UE supports policyconvergence, or used for indicating a converging manner supported by theUE, so that the first policy server selects, for the UE according to theconverging manner supported by the UE, a converging manner used forgenerating the converged policy information.

Refer to FIG. 7, which is a block diagram of another embodiment of a UEaccording to the present invention.

The UE includes: a bus 710, and a network interface 720 and a processor730 that are connected by using the bus 710, where

-   -   the network interface 720 is configured to connect to a policy        server in a network; and    -   the processor 730 is configured to send a policy request message        to a first policy server through the network interface 720;        receive, through the network interface 720, a policy response        message from the first policy server, where the policy response        message includes first policy information of the first policy        server and information about at least one piece of second policy        information, and the at least one piece of second policy        information is policy information of at least one second policy        server; acquire the at least one piece of second policy        information according to the information about the at least one        piece of second policy information; and converge, according to        the policy response message, the first policy information and        the at least one piece of second policy information to generate        converged policy information.

Optionally, the information that is about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information and included in the policy response messagereceived by the processor 730 through the network interface 720 is usedas a policy convergence indication; or the policy response messagereceived by the processor 730 through the network interface 720 furtherincludes a policy convergence indication.

Optionally, the policy convergence indication is used for indicating anyone of the following converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information.

Optionally, the policy convergence indication is a policy convergenceindication determined by the first policy server according to at leastone relationship in a configuration relationship, a locationrelationship, and a roaming relationship between the first policy serverand the at least one second policy server.

Optionally, the policy request message sent by the processor 730 throughthe network interface 720 includes an identifier of at least one secondpolicy server found by the UE, so that the first policy server selectsthe at least one second policy server for the UE; or the policy requestmessage sent by the processor 730 through the network interface 720includes an identifier of at least one piece of second policyinformation of at least one second policy server found by the UE, sothat the first policy server selects the identifier of the at least onepiece of second policy information for the UE.

Optionally, when the policy request message sent by the processor 730through the network interface 720 includes the identifier of the atleast one second policy server found by the UE, the information that isabout the at least one piece of second policy information and includedin the policy response message received by the processor through thenetwork interface includes the identifier of the at least one secondpolicy server; and when the policy request message sent by the processor730 through the network interface 720 includes the identifier of the atleast one piece of second policy information of the at least one secondpolicy server found by the UE, the information that is about the atleast one piece of second policy information and included in the policyresponse message received by the processor through the network interfaceincludes the identifier of the at least one piece of second policyinformation.

Optionally, the policy request message sent by the processor 730 throughthe network interface 720 includes capability information of the UE,where the capability information is used for indicating that the UEsupports policy convergence, or used for indicating a converging mannersupported by the UE, so that the first policy server selects, for the UEaccording to the converging manner supported by the UE, a convergingmanner used for generating the converged policy information.

Refer to FIG. 8, which is a block diagram of an embodiment of a serveraccording to the present invention. The server serves as a first policyserver.

The server includes: a receiving unit 810 and a sending unit 820, where

-   -   the receiving unit 810 is configured to receive a policy request        message sent by user equipment UE; and    -   the sending unit 820 is configured to send a policy response        message to the UE, where the policy response message includes        first policy information of the first policy server and        information about at least one piece of second policy        information, the at least one piece of second policy information        is policy information of at least one second policy server, and        the policy response message is used for instructing the UE to        acquire the at least one piece of second policy information        according to the information about the at least one piece of        second policy information, and converge the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information to generate converged policy information.

Optionally, the information that is about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information and included in the policy response messagesent by the sending unit 820 is used as a policy convergence indication;or the policy response message sent by the sending unit 820 furtherincludes a policy convergence indication.

Optionally, the policy convergence indication is used for indicating anyone of the following converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy information;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information.

Optionally, the server may further include (not shown in FIG. 8): adetermining unit, configured to determine the policy convergenceindication according to at least one relationship in a configurationrelationship, a location relationship, and a roaming relationshipbetween the first policy server and the at least one second policyserver.

Optionally, the server may further include (not shown in FIG. 8): afirst selecting unit, configured to: when the policy request messagereceived by the receiving unit includes an identifier of at least onesecond policy server found by the UE, select the at least one secondpolicy server for the UE; or when the policy request message received bythe receiving unit includes an identifier of at least one piece ofsecond policy information of at least one second policy server found bythe UE, select the identifier of the at least one piece of second policyinformation for the UE.

Optionally, when the policy request message received by the receivingunit 810 includes the identifier of the at least one second policyserver found by the UE, the information that is about the at least onepiece of second policy information and included in the policy responsemessage sent by the sending unit 820 includes the identifier of the atleast one second policy server; and when the policy request messagereceived by the receiving unit 810 includes the identifier of the atleast one piece of second policy information of the at least one secondpolicy server found by the UE, the information that is about the atleast one piece of second policy information and included in the policyresponse message sent by the sending unit 820 includes the identifier ofthe at least one piece of second policy information.

Optionally, the policy request message received by the receiving unit810 includes capability information of the UE, where the capabilityinformation is used for indicating that the UE supports policyconvergence, or used for indicating a converging manner supported by theUE; and the server may further include (not shown in FIG. 8): a secondselecting unit, configured to: when the capability information is usedfor indicating a converging manner supported by the UE, select, for theUE according to the converging manner supported by the UE, a convergingmanner used for generating the converged policy information.

Refer to FIG. 9, which is a block diagram of another embodiment of aserver according to the present invention. The server serves as a firstpolicy server.

The server includes: a bus 910, and a network interface 920 and aprocessor 930 that are connected by using the bus 910, where

-   -   the network interface 920 is configured to connect to a UE in a        network; and    -   the processor 930 is configured to receive, through the network        interface 920, a policy request message sent by the user        equipment UE, and send a policy response message to the UE        through the network interface 920, where the policy response        message includes first policy information of the first policy        server and information about at least one piece of second policy        information, the at least one piece of second policy information        is policy information of at least one second policy server, and        the policy response message is used for instructing the UE to        acquire the at least one piece of second policy information        according to the information about the at least one piece of        second policy information, and converge the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information to generate converged policy information.

Optionally, the information that is about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information and included in the policy response messagesent by the processor 930 through the network interface 920 is used as apolicy convergence indication; or the policy response message sent bythe processor 930 through the network interface 920 further includes apolicy convergence indication.

Optionally, the policy convergence indication is used for indicating anyone of the following converging manners:

-   -   the converged policy information is policy information with a        highest priority in the first policy information and the at        least one piece of second policy infoimation;    -   for a same target access network, policy items in the converged        policy information are a union set of a policy item in the first        policy information and a policy item in the at least one piece        of second policy information; and    -   for a same target access network, each policy item in the        converged policy information is a policy item with a highest        priority in policy items of a same type in the first policy        information and the at least one piece of second policy        information.

Optionally, the processor 930 may be further configured to determine thepolicy convergence indication according to at least one relationship ina configuration relationship, a location relationship, and a roamingrelationship between the first policy server and the at least one secondpolicy server.

Optionally, the processor 930 is further configured to: when the policyrequest message received through the network interface 920 includes anidentifier of at least one second policy server found by the UE, selectthe at least one second policy server for the UE; or when the policyrequest message received through the network interface 920 includes anidentifier of at least one piece of second policy information of atleast one second policy server found by the UE, select the identifier ofthe at least one piece of second policy information for the UE.

Optionally, when the policy request message received by the processor930 through the network interface 920 includes the identifier of the atleast one second policy server found by the UE, the information that isabout the at least one piece of second policy information and includedin the policy response message sent by the processor 930 through thenetwork interface 920 includes the identifier of the at least one secondpolicy server; and when the policy request message received by theprocessor 930 through the network interface 920 includes the identifierof the at least one piece of second policy information of the at leastone second policy server found by the UE, the information that is aboutthe at least one piece of second policy information and included in thepolicy response message sent by the processor 930 through the networkinterface 920 includes the identifier of the at least one piece ofsecond policy information.

Optionally, the policy request message received by the processor 930through the network interface 920 includes capability information of theUE, where the capability information is used for indicating that the UEsupports policy convergence, or used for indicating a converging mannersupported by the UE; and the processor 930 may be further configured to:when the capability information is used for indicating a convergingmanner supported by the UE, select, for the UE according to theconverging manner supported by the UE, a converging manner used forgenerating the converged policy information.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiments, a UE sends a policyrequest message to a first policy server; the first policy serverreceives a policy response message, where the policy response messageincludes first policy information of the first policy server andinformation about at least one piece of second policy information, andthe at least one piece of second policy information is policyinformation of at least one second policy server; and the UE acquiresthe at least one piece of second policy information according to theinformation about the at least one piece of second policy information,and converges, according to the policy response message, the firstpolicy information and the at least one piece of second policyinformation to generate converged policy information. By applying theembodiments of the present invention, when there are at least two policyservers providing policy information to a UE at the same time, policyinformation of different policy servers can be converged, so thatoccurrence of policy conflict is prevented, and the UE can access atarget network according to converged policy information.

A person skilled in the art may clearly understand that, thetechnologies in the embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented by software in addition to a necessary general hardwareplatform. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of thepresent invention essentially or the part contributing to the prior artmay be implemented in a form of a software product. The software productis stored in a storage medium, such as a ROM/RAM, a hard disk, or anoptical disc, and includes several instructions for instructing acomputer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or anetwork device) to perform the methods described in the embodiments orsome parts of the embodiments of the present invention.

The embodiments in this specification are all described in a progressivemanner, for same or similar parts in the embodiments, reference may bemade to these embodiments, and each embodiment focuses on a differencefrom other embodiments. Especially, a system embodiment is basicallysimilar to a method embodiment, and therefore is described briefly; forrelated parts, reference may be made to partial descriptions in themethod embodiment.

The foregoing descriptions are implementation manners of the presentinvention, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of thepresent invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, andimprovement made without departing from the spirit and principle of thepresent invention shall fall within the protection scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for policy converging, the methodcomprising: sending, by user equipment (UE), a policy request message toa first policy server; receiving, by the UE, a policy response messagefrom the first policy server, wherein the policy response messagecomprises first policy information of the first policy server andinformation about at least one piece of second policy information of atleast one second policy server; acquiring, by the UE, the at least onepiece of second policy information according to the information aboutthe at least one piece of second policy information; and converging, bythe UE according to the policy response message, the first policyinformation and the at least one piece of second policy information togenerate converged policy information.
 2. The method according to claim1, wherein the information about the at least one piece of second policyinformation is used as a policy convergence indication.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the policy response message furthercomprises a policy convergence indication.
 4. The method according toclaim 3, wherein the policy convergence indication is used forindicating the following converging manner: for a same target accessnetwork, policy items in the converged policy information are a unionset of a policy item in the first policy information and a policy itemin the at least one piece of second policy information.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the policy convergence indication is apolicy convergence indication determined by the first policy serveraccording to at least one relationship in a configuration relationship,a location relationship, and a roaming relationship between the firstpolicy server and the at least one second policy server.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein: the policy request message comprises anidentifier of at least one second policy server found by the UE, so thatthe first policy server selects the at least one second policy serverfor the UE; or the policy request message comprises an identifier of atleast one piece of second policy information of at least one secondpolicy server found by the UE, so that the first policy server selectsthe identifier of the at least one piece of second policy informationfor the UE.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: when the policyrequest message comprises the identifier of the at least one secondpolicy server found by the UE, the information that is about the atleast one piece of second policy information and comprised in the policyresponse message comprises the identifier of the at least one secondpolicy server; and when the policy request message comprises theidentifier of the at least one piece of second policy information of theat least one second policy server found by the UE, the information thatis about the at least one piece of second policy information andcomprised in the policy response message comprises the identifier of theat least one piece of second policy information.
 8. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the policy request message comprises capabilityinformation of the UE, wherein the capability information is used forindicating that the UE supports policy convergence, or used forindicating a converging manner supported by the UE, so that the firstpolicy server selects, for the UE according to the converging mannersupported by the UE, a converging manner used for generating theconverged policy information.
 9. A user equipment (UE), comprising: abus; a network interface coupled to the bus and configured to connect toa policy server in a network; and a processor coupled to the bus andconfigured to: send a policy request message to a first policy serverthrough the network interface, receive, through the network interface, apolicy response message from the first policy server, wherein the policyresponse message comprises first policy information of the first policyserver and information about at least one piece of second policyinformation of at least one second policy server, acquire the at leastone piece of second policy information according to the informationabout the at least one piece of second policy information, and converge,according to the policy response message, the first policy informationand the at least one piece of second policy information to generateconverged policy information.
 10. The UE according to claim 9, whereinthe policy response message received by the processor through thenetwork interface further comprises a policy convergence indication. 11.The UE according to claim 10, wherein the policy convergence indicationis used for indicating any one of the following converging manners: fora same target access network, policy items in the converged policyinformation are a union set of a policy item in the first policyinformation and a policy item in the at least one piece of second policyinformation.
 12. The UE according to claim 10, wherein the policyconvergence indication is a policy convergence indication determined bythe first policy server according to at least one relationship in aconfiguration relationship, a location relationship, and a roamingrelationship between the first policy server and the at least one secondpolicy server.
 13. The UE according to claim 9, wherein: the policyrequest message sent by the processor through the network interfacecomprises an identifier of at least one second policy server found bythe UE, so that the first policy server selects the at least one secondpolicy server for the UE; or the policy request message sent by theprocessor through the network interface comprises an identifier of atleast one piece of second policy information of at least one secondpolicy server found by the UE, so that the first policy server selectsthe identifier of the at least one piece of second policy informationfor the UE.
 14. The UE according to claim 13, wherein: when the policyrequest message sent by the processor through the network interfacecomprises the identifier of the at least one second policy server foundby the UE, the information that is about the at least one piece ofsecond policy information and comprised in the policy response messagereceived by the processor through the network interface comprises anidentifier of the at least one second policy server; and when the policyrequest message sent by the processor through the network interfacecomprises the identifier of the at least one piece of second policyinformation of the at least one second policy server found by the UE,the information that is about the at least one piece of second policyinformation and comprised in the policy response message received by theprocessor through the network interface comprises the identifier of theat least one piece of second policy information.
 15. The UE according toclaim 9, wherein the policy request message sent by the processorthrough the network interface comprises capability information of theUE, wherein the capability information is used for indicating that theUE supports policy convergence, or used for indicating a convergingmanner supported by the UE, so that the first policy server selects, forthe UE according to the converging manner supported by the UE, aconverging manner used for generating the converged policy information.